Plot
While in his teens, Donny fathered a son, Todd, and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down when Donny resurfaces just before Todd's wedding.
Release Year: 2012
Rating: 4.1/10 (648 voted)
Critic's Score: 27/100
Director:
Sean Anders
Stars: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester
Storyline While still in his teens, Donny (Adam Sandler) fathered a son, Todd (Andy Samberg), and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down on the eve of his wedding when an uninvited Donny suddenly shows up. Trying desperately to reconnect with his son, Donny is now forced to deal with the repercussions of his bad parenting skills.
Cast: Adam Sandler
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Donny
Andy Samberg
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Todd
Leighton Meester
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Jamie
Vanilla Ice
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Himself
James Caan
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Father McNally
Milo Ventimiglia
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Chad
Blake Clark
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Gerald
Meagen Fay
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Helen
Tony Orlando
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Steve Spirou
Will Forte
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Phil
Rachel Dratch
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Phil's Wife
Nick Swardson
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Kenny
Peggy Stewart
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Grandma Delores
Luenell
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Champale
Ciara
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Brie
Trivia: Adam Sandler is only 12 years older than Andy Samberg, who plays his son in this movie.
Quotes:
[from trailer]
Jamie:
Todd, your old man's here to see you! Donny:
WASSUP!
[Todd hurls his drink]
User Review
And Now The Excited Southerner Makes a Stupid Movie
Rating: 2/10
A dumb lead character in a comedy can result in a funny movie. However,
if every other character is dumb enough to be even slightly charmed by
a vulgar, drunken, slovenly 41-year-old man with an annoying voice who
looks like a washed-up Guns N Roses roadie, plausibility flies right
out the window, and so do the laughs.
"That's My Boy" has more promise in its male leads than it ultimately
delivers. After all, Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg have a lot more in
common besides initials. They're both Saturday Night Live alumni who
made names for themselves by writing original, funny songs. They also
both practically single-handedly revitalized SNL's popularity by
attracting a younger following.
You would think a movie starring both of them would showcase each of
their talents. Unfortunately, in "That's My Boy", Samberg was
restricted to a straight man role, while Sandler routinely eats scenery
with his atrocious Boston accent that sounds more Louisianan.
The film's premise does not leave much room for laughs as it is.
Sandler plays Donny, a native of Somerville, Massachusetts who, when
he's 13 years old, has a thing for older women, particularly his
teacher, Miss McGarricle (Eva Amurri Martino).
When Miss McGarricle takes too much of a liking to the young Donny,
they have sex, they get caught, and Miss McGarricle gets pregnant. She
bears a son, but gets sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In a contrived, totally unrealistic plot point that only serves as
fodder for jokes later on in the film, young Donny is ordered by the
court, who apparently had never heard of child care services, to raise
his newborn son. Even more unrealistically, Donny becomes a celebrity,
sells his life story for six figures, and blows his money away.
The second part of that scenario rubbed me the wrong way already. Do
you remember the name of the boy with whom 6th grade teacher Mary Kay
Letorneau had sex? I don't. That boy was featured in the New York
Times, but not on the cover of Teen Beat!
Anyway, Donny's son Todd (Samberg) grows up to become a successful
hedge fund manager, but only after moving away from Donny when he
turned 18 (Again, child services anyone?). Donny, on the other hand,
spends his money so irresponsibly that he ultimately owes $43,000 in
back taxes.
When he finds out about Todd's engagement to beautiful Jamie (Leighton
Meester), Donny convinces a TV talk show host to pay him $50,000 for
exclusive footage of Donny, Todd, and Todd's biological mother (still
in jail) reuniting at last. Such a contrived plot point serves as the
reason Donny shows up unannounced to Todd's wedding site days before
the wedding.
Rather than the wedding party, consisting of Jamie's family and Todd's
boss Steve Spirou (Tony Orlando), being repulsed by Donny's disheveled
hair, ratty clothes, vernacular that consists of the f-word spoken
every third sentence, and his irritating faux Boston accent, they
somehow see his charm. It's surprising, because if a guy who acted like
Donny showed up at my wedding, I would call security before he even
opened his mouth.
Naturally, because Donny is a boy who never grew up, his shenanigans
supposedly ruin Todd's plans for the perfect wedding. The usual cliché
plot points happen when Donny and Todd have a falling out the night
before the wedding, sentimental music borrowed from "Full House" reruns
play during the night scenes, and the climax happens right when the
bride and groom are taking their vows.
I should note that there's also a plot twist involving the bride that
was so out of left field that it landed in another ball park. Without
giving it away, I really wish the film hadn't gone there. That twist
made me cringe far more than it made me laugh.
Add those hackneyed wedding movie story lines to Sandler's constantly
disseminating his tired onslaught of fat jokes, penis gags, fart
noises, antics revolving around elderly people having sex, and
homophobic humor, and you've got "That's My Boy". The difference
between him doing those jokes in this movie and his last movie, "Jack
and Jill" (2011), is that here, when using an irritating voice, he
doesn't cross dress.
Don't get me wrong, though. I don't hate Adam Sandler. In fact, "Happy
Gilmore" (1996), "The Wedding Singer" (1998), and "The Waterboy" (1998)
still make me laugh both because the jokes are fresher and funnier, and
because Sandler's character in those movies had heart. Here, he plays a
buffoon so obnoxious you want to punch him in the face.
The other jokes not spoken by Sandler, but by other characters, fall
flat 9 times out of 10. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan plays Sandler's
financial adviser who happens to be a huge New England Patriots fan.
Get it? Because he's actually the Jets coach in real life? Hardy har
har!
Among the many cameos in this film, the only one that's genuinely funny
is Vanilla Ice, who plays himself. He surprisingly does such a good job
parodying his image from 20 years ago that Happy Madison Productions
should actually give him his own movie.
However, Vanilla Ice's role in the movie reflected the problem of
"That's My Boy": when Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg are in a movie
together, the funniest person should not be Vanilla Ice! Sandler really
needs to reevaluate his on-screen humor and his career. While his
movies are making money, he's gradually losing credibility.
To paraphrase an earlier, funnier Sandler movie ("Billy Madison"
(1995)), "That's My Boy" is one of the most insanely idiotic things I
have ever seen. At no point in this rambling, incoherent film was
Sandler even close to anything that could be considered funny. Everyone
in my screening room is now dumber for having seen it. I award this
movie 2 out of 10 stars, and may God have mercy on Adam Sandler's soul.
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